November 9 – November 21, 2021
BAKERSFIELD MIST by Stephen Sachs
Directed by Ron Celona
Maude, an unemployed bartender living in a trailer park, has bought a painting for a few bucks from a thrift store. Despite almost trashing it, she’s now convinced it’s a lost masterpiece by Jackson Pollock worth millions. But when world-class art expert Lionel Percy flies over from New York and arrives at her trailer home in Bakersfield to authenticate the painting, he has no idea what he is about to discover. Inspired by true events, this hilarious and thought-provoking new comedy-drama asks vital questions about what makes art and people truly authentic.
“Not to be missed! [BAKERSFIELD MIST] tackles large creative questions with well-timed zingers.”
—Vanity Fair.
“Thoroughly entertaining…Put a smile on my face and kept my brain buzzing for a good while afterward.”
—The Times (London).
“Sachs’ short, clever play is a battle of wits.”
—The New York Times.
“It’s exhilarating in the extreme when a play strikes rich on every conceivable level. A wry two-hander that handles highbrow artistic issues while zinging in plenty of uproarious one-liners. A perfect marriage of emotion and ideas that is rare indeed.”
—Los Angeles Times.
January 25 – February 6, 2022
LIFE X 3 by Yasmina Reza
Directed by Joanne Gordon
Henry and Sonia are having a difficult evening with Arnaud, their wakeful six-year-old son; but Henry has other worries. About to publish the results of two years’ research on the flatness of galaxy halos, he’s desperate to make a good impression on the distinguished astrophysicist Hubert Finidori, who wields a decisive influence over the question of Henry’s longed-for promotion. So when Hubert arrives with his rebellious wife, Inez, in tow for dinner on the wrong night, the fact that there is no food in the apartment (merely an ample supply of Sancerre) is only one of the potentially disastrous elements in play. Add to this Hubert’s often brutal treatment of Inez; his lust for Sonia; Inez’s weak head for alcohol; Henry’s discovery that rival scientists may have beaten him to the punch; Sonia’s equivocal feeling of attraction towards Hubert; and the entirely unpredictable behavior of the invisible Arnaud—and the stage is set for a catastrophic unraveling of normal civilized behavior. But will it be this kind of catastrophe? Or that? Or, perhaps, worse still, will catastrophe be averted altogether?
Yasmina Reza’s LIFE X 3, as witty and acerbic as ‘Art’, her enormous worldwide success, contrasts man’s ability to analyze and map the outermost reaches of the universe with his total inability to respond rationally to the most trivial domestic mishap, and examines how the slightest random event can effortlessly derail the most elaborately laid plan. An original, hilarious and ultimately thought-provoking addition to an increasingly impressive body of work from one of the most fascinating and distinctive voices of the contemporary theatre. “…elegantly streaked with troubling shadows and shaped with Cartesian symmetry.” —NY Times.
“Yasmina Reza’s new play is an elegant enigma…as an intellectual construct, the play is fascinating.”
—Guardian (London).
“Minimally, millennially chic…LIFE X 3 is swift, sharply phrased, poised and awash with uncertainty.”
—Observer (London).
“[An] extraordinary play…The writing is brisk, brittle, funny and lethally accurate.”
—Sunday Times (London).
March 1- March 20, 2022
CLOSER THAN EVER
Music by David Shire and Lyrics by Richard Maltby, Jr.
Directed by Ron Celona
Musical Direction By Scott Storr
A look into the private song vault of Richard Maltby, Jr., and David Shire (Big; Starting Here, Starting Now; Baby), the review, Maltby and Shire’s Closer Than Ever, is filled to the brim with the brilliance for which these musical theatre giants are known.
Closer Than Ever is a nonstop exploration of everyday struggles in the “modern world.” Topics ranging from unrequited adoration… to aging… to Muzak are tackled with resounding sincerity and precisely placed hilarity. Each song is a unique story told by a new character, taking audiences, not only into the songbook of Mr. Maltby and Mr. Shire, but into the minds of the individuals facing these completely relatable challenges.
April 12 – 24, 2022
NATIVE GARDENS by Karen Zacarias
Directed by Michael Matthews
Pablo, a high-powered lawyer, and doctoral candidate Tania, his very pregnant wife, are realizing the American dream when they purchase a house next door to community stalwarts Virginia and Frank. But a disagreement over a long-standing fence line soon spirals into an all-out war of taste, class, privilege, and entitlement. The hilarious results guarantee no one comes out smelling like a rose.
“A lighthearted comedy with some heavier threads woven through for just the right amount of heft.”
– Broadway World
“A comedy planted in difficult, painful issues.”
– Chicago Tribune
Season Sponsors
The Auen Foundation
Tom & Nancy Cunningham
Eisenhower Health
Barbara Fremont/Fremont Family Foundation
David Hood & George Sellers
Peggy Jacobs & Bob Howard
Opening Night Sponsors
Marjorie Victor
